SE Asia Stocks-Thai shares at 6-week lows amid risk of violence

BANGKOK, May 12 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets
mostly fell on Monday, with Thai shares extending their losses
to six-week lows amid risk of political violence while shares in
Vietnam touched the lowest in four months as tensions with China
mounted.
Shares in Thai large caps came under more
selling pressure as investors cut risk holdings ahead of a
market holiday on Tuesday. Ongoing political protests kept risk-
averse investors cautious.
Two anti-government protesters were injured in a blast
outside the Thai prime minister's offices, police said on
Sunday, as the two sides in a long political crisis squared off
over who is running the country.
The benchmark SET index was down 0.5 percent at
midday, adding to a 3.1 percent drop last week when Thai shares
underperformed most others in Southeast Asia. The index fell to
1,370 in early hours of trading, the lowest since March 28.
"The situation could turn explosive at any time and thus
needs close monitoring," strategists at broker Krungsri
Securities wrote in a report.
Foreign investors withdrew from a net 2.3 billion baht
($70.55 million) worth of Thai shares last week after a court
verdict removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office
and an anti-graft agency indicted her for negligence in a
rice-subsidy scheme.
Stocks in Singapore were down 0.6 percent, with
Malaysia <.KLSE > nearly flat, with both bourses shut on Tuesday
for a market holiday. The Philippine index retreated
after two sessions of gain to an 11-month high on Friday.
Bucking the trend, Jakarta's Composite Index climbed
to the highest since April 9, helped by selective buying in
laggard shares such as Harum Energy after the coal
miner reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change at 0539 GMT
Market Current Prev Close Pct Move
TR SE Asia Index* 417.63 419.16 -0.37
Singapore 3231.45 3252.13 -0.64
Kuala Lumpur 1866.84 1866.72 +0.01
Bangkok 1371.17 1377.37 -0.45
Jakarta 4921.83 4898.14 +0.48
Manila 6813.35 6847.26 -0.50
Ho Chi Minh 517.85 542.46 -4.54
* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a
highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
($1 = 32.6000 Thai Baht)
(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Additional reporting by Ho
Binh Minh in HANOI; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)